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Chedorlaomer XVIII
Chedorlaomer XVIII (b. 1599 BC) was the 101st King of Elam and 55th Emperor of Chedorlaomer reigning 1551-1542 BC. He is sometimes called "The Conqueror of Hatti", a unique Imperial Title only conferred on him and not assumed by any other Emperor. He was the second son of Emperor Kidinu V and succeeded to the throne after the death of his elder brother Kidin-Hutran VII. In 1548 BC he besieged Samuha and managed to force the Hittite King Pu-Sarruma II to surrender, ending three hundred and fifty years of war between Elam and it's allies and the Hittites. When the Emperor returned to Susa, according to the Emperor's personal scribe Išmani of Kesat: "The assembled Great Priests and Elders of Susa, of Anšan and it's (Elam's) other great cities conferred upon Him and Him alone the tile of Conqueror of Hatti. They then swore a loss of Kiten and Earthly Divinity to whichever King and Emperor should dare assume the same title after his death, "unless he too rides into Hatti and Hattusa and submits it with his sword", and the Emperor had their words carved out into a stela and raised it on a hill beyond Susa". In 1547 the Emperor gave the Hittites back many cities that were won in the previous decades. In 1546 he returned countless more cities and villages as a sign of good will, due to rising tensions in the Hittite Kingdom caused by members of the Hittite nobility who refused to surrender, even against the wishes of many nobleman in Elam, who wished to carve a colony of "Hittite Haltamt" from these territories as compensation for all the lives lost since 1900 BC. The Chief Minister of Elam Tukulti-Ninurta Kilah-Shupir-Atta personally aided the Emperor in convincing the influential Priests to formally back the Emperor's plan of returning Hittite settlements. In 1545 BC a certain Pariyamuwa attempted to dethrone King Pu-Sarruma and become the new Hittite King. His rebellion failed, however he retained control of Šamuha, the holy city of the Hittites. Chedorlaomer XVIII sent a division of the Elamite army to take Šamuha, however he was unsuccessfull. In addition the Kingdoms of Tikunani, Zalpuwa, Kanesh, Hassuwa, Hahhum, Mama and Tahruwa began to demand reparations from the Hittites for the Hittite incursions on their territory during the war. The King of Zalpuwa Halpamuwa II became the leader of the alliance and threatened to invade the Hittite Kingdom with the forces of all the Kingdoms of the alliance to take compensation by force. The Emperor attempted to disuade them from doing so, however anti-Hittite sentiment in Elam, especially after the Šamuha secession and failed attempts at it's recapture was so high he did not dare threaten the alliance with military action over quarells with the Hittites, as the alliance had the support of the Mitanni, Ishuwa and Asshur Kingdoms and military action could mean a complete fragmentation of the Empire and war between all it's member nations. In 1544 the Emperor met with King Halpamuwa, wanting to persuade him to reconsider. The King reaffirmed his loalty to the Empire, however he called the Hittites enemies, saying that "once they find out the forced union with the Empire can not even secure the safety of their holy city of Šamuha, they will have no reason to remain at peace and go back to try and submit all the free nations from Mama to Tikunani and beyond". In 1543 the Emperor managed to force the alliance to an agreement to refrain from military action for the time being and set to recover Šamuha. He was defeated by Pariyamuwa, even when he himself was present on the battlefield to boost morale. Only his status as "Conqueror of Hatti" prevented him from being ridiculed by the people and nobles of Elam behind his back. In 1542 he finally defeated Pariyamuwa , "put his head on a spike and gave it to King Pu-Sarruma II at Hattusa". However the Emperor was wounded during the battle and while the wound was small it got infected and resulted in his death several weeks later, at Susa. There was a great uproar in Elam and the Empire as a whole following the Emperor's death, and his son and successor, Emperor Idaddu-napir VI had deal with these matters immediately after his ascension, even before he could secure the burial of Chedorlaomer XVIII. Chedorlaomer XVIII's Temple is still maintained and has not been reconsecrated for the joint worship of another Emperor, a rarity for an Imperial Temple from Before 1000 BC. It is due to the extreme reverence the Emperor receives as the conqueror of the Hittite Kingdom, and he is the most invoked and prayed to of the Pre 1 AD Emperors after Chedorlaomer I.